NB Podium Ascent: Montgomery Leads Wire to Wire

• Ryan Montgomery won the NB Podium field in 29:40 (13:39/mi), holding 1st among men from start to finish.
• David Eik was 69 seconds back at 30:49, with the 2nd-fastest split on the Snow King→Finish segment.
• Andrew Catanese rounded out the podium in 32:49, a further 2:00 behind Eik.
• All three men posted the three fastest Snow King→Finish splits in the NB Podium field — in the same order they finished.

Ryan Montgomery made no mistakes on this 3.5K ascent through Palisades Tahoe, holding the men's lead from the opening stretch all the way to the tape. At high elevation — the course climbs through air between roughly 6,300 and 8,000 feet — sustaining 13:39 per mile on a skyrace ascent is no small feat, and Montgomery never relinquished the advantage he built early.

David Eik gave chase from San Francisco, running the second-fastest split on the Snow King→Finish segment and crossing in 30:49. The gap to Montgomery was 69 seconds — meaningful on a course this short, where every uphill step is earned in thin air. Eik was consistent and composed, but Montgomery simply had more on the day.

Andrew Catanese of Berkeley completed a clean NB Podium sweep of the podium, finishing 3rd in 32:49 at 15:06 per mile. His Snow King→Finish split was the third-fastest in the field, keeping the finishing order locked in through the final push. With a three-man field running in clean formation — 1st, 2nd, and 3rd among men never changing hands — this was less a race of dramatic moves and more a test of who could hold their pace longest up the mountain. Montgomery had the answer.